islington, london, music, nightlife

Music Mondays…

It’s been a week of reflection since I decided to break some unwritten rules of my London. Last Monday evening I: 1) Went to a gig on my own 2) Went to a gig on a Monday 3) Ventured further north than City Road without the backup of my home-boys. I found myself having a quiet pre-gig pint downstairs in the wonderful Lexington, highly entertained by their weekly Music Pub Quiz. Upstairs lay the draw for this timely and momentous occasion. I was about to see a band from L.A. make its debut outside America known as Local Natives.

Quite apt, as upon being left awe struck at their mesmerising performance, I am sticking my neck out to say they will soon become very timely and very momentous; words I fear Jools Holland will utter before announcing them on Later.  Made up of members from popular Orange County band Cavil At Rest, this 5 piece utilise 1.5 drumkits, 0.75 keyboards, 3 guitars, 4 harmonic voices plus a broken cymbal that creates a live sound that has energy unbound that takes there agile and cascading recorded sound to another level. Nothing smacks of the usual folky bandwagon loveliness, there is blood, sweat and full on rock’n'roll all over the stage. Stand out tracks ‘Airplanes’ and ‘Sun Hands’ showcase everything I’m getting excited about. I don’t want to, but I keep thinking of comparing them to Arcade Fire meets Simon and Garfunkel, but in a good way.

Local Natives – Sun Hands

Support for this outstanding, and apparently quite regular, Rockfeedback evening came from YourTwenties, a fresh and melodic pop band from Devon fronted by ex-Metronomy man Gabriel Stebbing. The very much deserve a praise worthy mention, especially for the much hyped track ‘Billionaire’

Your Twenties – Billionaire

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